[cobirds] Re: Common Black-Hawk eating crayfish photo request

[kickback]

Picture of Common Black Hawk and crayfish remains

http://www.avoapples.com/birds/1Z7A8057_cr.jpg

Bill Kosar
Colorado Springs
El Paso County

On Sunday, 13 September 2020 17:23:08 UTC-6, kickback wrote:
>
> The hawk was still munching away at 4 PM Sunday and very easily found by 
> the dam and a little bit downstream..
>
> Bill Kosar
> Colorado Springs
>
> On Sunday, 13 September 2020 16:26:25 UTC-6, Dave Leatherman wrote:
>>
>> An awesome , quick response from Kevin Ash (finder of the Common 
>> Black-Hawk) and Cinnamon Bergeron has resulted in photos from Cinnamon 
>> showing the bird with a crayfish on the dam, and reference to photos in the 
>> eBird checklists of Alan Ketcham and Diane Roberts showing the hawk with 
>> crayfish.  These are all great verification that this somewhat lost young 
>> bird is acting as normally as a Common Black-Hawk in Colorado can by 
>> finding a good source of "mud bugs" (as crayfish are called in the South).  
>> In Ohio we called them crawdads.  Alan's photo shows the bird on the dam 
>> with two big claws lying next to it on the concrete.  Obviously, this big 
>> hawk does what many others birds, most notably gulls, do when preparing to 
>> consume crayfish - they remove the claws.  Many waterbirds like Pied-billed 
>> Grebes and Hooded Mergansers skin the cat a little differently, probably 
>> because of the difficulty inherent with being in water and possessing feet 
>> adapted for pushing water, not delicately manipulating food: they just 
>> orient the morsel tailfirst and then swallow it, claws and all.
>>
>> Thanks to the folks above for their finding, photographing and sharing 
>> efforts.
>>
>> Dave Leatherman
>> Fort Collins
>>
>

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RE: [cobirds] Reports from Aurora and Quincey Reservoirs

['Jean Stevenson' via Colorado Birds]

For others who might visit Aurora Reservoir infrequently, please note that 
there are free, walk-in gates from the housing areas on the south and east 
ends.  I bike and bird there often, entering through gate number one in the 
Beacon Point neighborhood, just south of the Beacon Point Community Center, 
which you can find on Google maps.
Jean Stevenson, Aurora CO

From: 'Cathy Sheeter' via Colorado Birds
Sent: Sunday, September 13, 2020 1:54 PM
To: Colorado Birds
Subject: [cobirds] Reports from Aurora and Quincey Reservoirs

I bit the bullet and purchased a pass to the Aurora Parks system that covers 
Aurora Reservoir and Quincey Reservoir.  These two locations are only 10-15 
minutes from my house, but since they have a fee, I rarely bird them, and most 
other people do not either.  Despite relatively infrequent birding Aurora Res. 
has in the past turned up such goodies as Yellow-billed Loon and Slatey-backed 
Gull (found by other birders, not myself) and Quincey has hosted a Brown 
Pelican and Brant in the past, so I look forward to seeing what I can find with 
frequent visits.   I will try to hit these locations at least every other week 
until I leave for Arizona and hopefully find some interesting birds this 
fall/winter and help flush out their ebird hotspot lists further.  

Yesterday I hit Aurora Res and walked about 1/3 of the loop.  There is some 
exposed shore line, but not a huge number of shore birds.  Baird's were in good 
numbers.  One Sanderling, one Pectoral, and a handful of other expected 
shorebird species.  Gull numbers (who utilize the nearby landfill every day) 
were already substantial - likely around 3000+, however I wasn't able to pull 
out a large diversity.  One Lesser-black-backed.  The majority of Gulls were 
California, and Ring-billed, with Cals being the most abundant species.  Much 
of the time the flocks were on the furthest shore line and/or in the middle of 
the reservoir, so not great looks.  Riparian habitat on the section I walked 
was overall rather poor, but still held a decent numbers of passerine migrants. 
 The reservoir, as a whole has a good diversity of habitat at this location 
from grasslands to a few groves of trees with willows.  Full checklist at: 
https://ebird.org/checklist/S73500445  

Today I walked the entire 3.5 mile loop around Quincey Reservoir, a place I 
have never birded before, to scout out the habitat.  Throughout much of the 
reservoir there is a lot of excellent riparian habitat with many mature trees, 
willows, and plenty of understory cover.  Despite this, it was not as birdy as 
I had hoped overall.  There is zero shore bird habitat and other than one 
Spotted Sandpiper, no shorebirds.   I did get into two different groups of 
warblers numbering around 25-30 warblers each, with best birds being a 
Nashville, and numerous Townsend's.  Unsurprisingly Wilson's were most 
abundant.    A surprising lack of empidonax (1 Willow was all I saw), again 
despite what looks like excellent habitat and plenty of insects for them.  
Nothing super exciting that tripped the ebird filters, but the place holds a 
lot of promise for migration, and I look forward to visiting again soon.  Full 
checklist at: https://ebird.org/checklist/S73546620   

Good birding-

Cathy Sheeter - Aurora, CO
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[cobirds] Re: Common Black-Hawk eating crayfish photo request

[kickback]

The hawk was still munching away at 4 PM Sunday and very easily found by 
the dam and a little bit downstream..

Bill Kosar
Colorado Springs

On Sunday, 13 September 2020 16:26:25 UTC-6, Dave Leatherman wrote:
>
> An awesome , quick response from Kevin Ash (finder of the Common 
> Black-Hawk) and Cinnamon Bergeron has resulted in photos from Cinnamon 
> showing the bird with a crayfish on the dam, and reference to photos in the 
> eBird checklists of Alan Ketcham and Diane Roberts showing the hawk with 
> crayfish.  These are all great verification that this somewhat lost young 
> bird is acting as normally as a Common Black-Hawk in Colorado can by 
> finding a good source of "mud bugs" (as crayfish are called in the South).  
> In Ohio we called them crawdads.  Alan's photo shows the bird on the dam 
> with two big claws lying next to it on the concrete.  Obviously, this big 
> hawk does what many others birds, most notably gulls, do when preparing to 
> consume crayfish - they remove the claws.  Many waterbirds like Pied-billed 
> Grebes and Hooded Mergansers skin the cat a little differently, probably 
> because of the difficulty inherent with being in water and possessing feet 
> adapted for pushing water, not delicately manipulating food: they just 
> orient the morsel tailfirst and then swallow it, claws and all.
>
> Thanks to the folks above for their finding, photographing and sharing 
> efforts.
>
> Dave Leatherman
> Fort Collins
>

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[cobirds] Red-headed Woodpecker, Louisville

[Paula Hansley]

I just had a juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker eating on one of my suet feeders!  
A first for this location. 

Paula Hansley
Louisville 

Sent from my iPhone

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[cobirds] Common Black-Hawk eating crayfish photo request

[DAVID A LEATHERMAN]

An awesome , quick response from Kevin Ash (finder of the Common Black-Hawk) 
and Cinnamon Bergeron has resulted in photos from Cinnamon showing the bird 
with a crayfish on the dam, and reference to photos in the eBird checklists of 
Alan Ketcham and Diane Roberts showing the hawk with crayfish.  These are all 
great verification that this somewhat lost young bird is acting as normally as 
a Common Black-Hawk in Colorado can by finding a good source of "mud bugs" (as 
crayfish are called in the South).  In Ohio we called them crawdads.  Alan's 
photo shows the bird on the dam with two big claws lying next to it on the 
concrete.  Obviously, this big hawk does what many others birds, most notably 
gulls, do when preparing to consume crayfish - they remove the claws.  Many 
waterbirds like Pied-billed Grebes and Hooded Mergansers skin the cat a little 
differently, probably because of the difficulty inherent with being in water 
and possessing feet adapted for pushing water, not delicately manipulating 
food: they just orient the morsel tailfirst and then swallow it, claws and all.

Thanks to the folks above for their finding, photographing and sharing efforts.

Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins

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Re: [cobirds] Common Black Hawk, Teller Co.

[DAVID A LEATHERMAN]

Regarding the Common Black-Hawk first reported by Kevin Ash (thank you), and 
Cinnamon's follow-up report in particular, it is notable that this bird was 
mentioned as eating a crayfish.  This species of raptor is a crayfish 
specialist.  Some day I'd like to visit former Colorado birder Bill Lisowsky at 
his new residence of Tubac, AZ.  Tubac is famous for the concentration of 
Common Black-Hawks that appear there in spring.  Crayfish have to be part of 
the equation.  If anyone gets a photo, taken without scaring the bird and 
messing up the viewing for other birders, that shows this Manitou Lake bird 
with a crayfish, I'd love to see it.

"The Hungry Bird" column in "Colorado Birds" covered crayfish in the April 2014 
issue (v48(2)), and Common Black-Hawk was mentioned among the many birds that 
eat crayfish.  But since it is so rare here, I had no Colorado experiences or 
photos to include.

Thanks,
Dave Leatherman
Fort Collins


From: cobirds@googlegroups.com  on behalf of Todd 
Deininger 
Sent: Sunday, September 13, 2020 9:29 AM
To: co-birds 
Subject: [cobirds] Common Black Hawk, Teller Co.

The bird was observed all morning.at the dam and below at 
the first beaver dam. It was then flushed by someone trying get a photo. (See 
photo) Bird is on the beaver dam)

Bird has been found again downstream



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[cobirds] Reports from Aurora and Quincey Reservoirs

['Cathy Sheeter' via Colorado Birds]

I bit the bullet and purchased a pass to the Aurora Parks system that 
covers Aurora Reservoir and Quincey Reservoir.  These two locations are 
only 10-15 minutes from my house, but since they have a fee, I rarely bird 
them, and most other people do not either.  Despite relatively infrequent 
birding Aurora Res. has in the past turned up such goodies as Yellow-billed 
Loon and Slatey-backed Gull (found by other birders, not myself) and 
Quincey has hosted a Brown Pelican and Brant in the past, so I look forward 
to seeing what I can find with frequent visits.   I will try to hit these 
locations at least every other week until I leave for Arizona and hopefully 
find some interesting birds this fall/winter and help flush out their ebird 
hotspot lists further.  

Yesterday I hit Aurora Res and walked about 1/3 of the loop.  There is some 
exposed shore line, but not a huge number of shore birds.  Baird's were in 
good numbers.  One Sanderling, one Pectoral, and a handful of other 
expected shorebird species.  Gull numbers (who utilize the nearby landfill 
every day) were already substantial - likely around 3000+, however I wasn't 
able to pull out a large diversity.  One Lesser-black-backed.  The majority 
of Gulls were California, and Ring-billed, with Cals being the most 
abundant species.  Much of the time the flocks were on the furthest shore 
line and/or in the middle of the reservoir, so not great looks.  Riparian 
habitat on the section I walked was overall rather poor, but still held a 
decent numbers of passerine migrants.  The reservoir, as a whole has a good 
diversity of habitat at this location from grasslands to a few groves of 
trees with willows.  Full checklist at: 
https://ebird.org/checklist/S73500445  

Today I walked the entire 3.5 mile loop around Quincey Reservoir, a place I 
have never birded before, to scout out the habitat.  Throughout much of the 
reservoir there is a lot of excellent riparian habitat with many mature 
trees, willows, and plenty of understory cover.  Despite this, it was not 
as birdy as I had hoped overall.  There is zero shore bird habitat and 
other than one Spotted Sandpiper, no shorebirds.   I did get into two 
different groups of warblers numbering around 25-30 warblers each, with 
best birds being a Nashville, and numerous Townsend's.  Unsurprisingly 
Wilson's were most abundant.A surprising lack of empidonax (1 Willow 
was all I saw), again despite what looks like excellent habitat and plenty 
of insects for them.  Nothing super exciting that tripped the ebird 
filters, but the place holds a lot of promise for migration, and I look 
forward to visiting again soon.  Full checklist at: 
https://ebird.org/checklist/S73546620   

Good birding-

Cathy Sheeter - Aurora, CO

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[cobirds] Ruddy Turnstone at Blanca Wetlands

[mvjo...@gmail.com]

A very good showing of shorebirds yesterday at Blanca Wetlands, including 
only the 5th record (so far as I know) of Ruddy Turnstone. The bird was on 
pond 16 which has lots of action. I witnessed a Peregrine Falcon easily 
take an Wilson Phalarope. Other highlites were Bairds, Semi pal, Western, 
Least,  Stilt and Pectoral Sandpipers, G and L Yellowlegs,  Long billed 
Curlew and Eastern Kingbird. 

John Rawinski
Monte Vista,CO 

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Re: [cobirds] Migration notes from NM

[Gary Brower]

I don’t know if this qualifies (i.e., it’s not about songbirds), but . . .

I regularly bird a small pond on the west edge of Cherry Creek SP. Like many, 
it has shrunk like crazy over the last couple of months. But that didn’t seem 
to phase the 20+ mallards that seemed to call it home (along with 3 or 4 
killdeer, 2 domestic geese, and the occasional BCNH, GBHU, and SNEG). 

I went by there a week ago today, and all was “normal” (in terms of the bird 
population). The next time I went by—Wednesday, the 9th—at least half of the 
mallards were dead, as were both domestic geese. The killdeer continued to work 
the mudflats.

Of course, what had happened between last Sunday and Wednesday was the “big 
chill and snow”. But would that have killed so many waterfowl?   The other pond 
I regularly check had no similar fatalities (although today there was NO bird 
life whatsoever — even though yesterday there were a handful of ducks).

Just seems strange to me . . .

Gary Brower
Unincorporated Arapahoe County



> On Sep 13, 2020, at 12:25 PM, Scott Severs  wrote:
> 
> Looks as if migratory songbird species were pushed to the limits culminating 
> in a massive die off event just to the south of us. Please report any large 
> numbers of deceased birds to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. 
> 
> https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/2020/09/12/mass-deaths-migratory-birds-new-mexico-environment/5780282002/
>  
> 
> 
> Scott Severs
> Longmont 
> 
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>  
> .

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[cobirds] Cattle Egret Union Reservoir-Weld CO.

[jay...@gmail.com]

Had a cattle egret at Union Res late this morning. Seen off of CR28 (the 
north side of Union) next to the Docheff Dairy farm small pond.  
Appropriately enough, and unlike the one see at Lake McIntosh recently, 
this one was in a field full ofcattle.

Also had Wilson's, Yellow-rumped, Yellow Warblers and a Northern 
Waterthursh in the deep ditch/outlet canal just east of the park office 
building.  Same spot also had a Townsends Solitaire, Western-wood peewee, 
Dusky FC and possibly a Hammond's as well, plus a a mix of other usual 
suspects.

Photos here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S73553107

Jay Hutchins
Longmont, CO


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[cobirds] Migration notes from NM

[Scott Severs]

Looks as if migratory songbird species were pushed to the limits 
culminating in a massive die off event just to the south of us. Please 
report any large numbers of deceased birds to the US Fish and Wildlife 
Service. 

https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/2020/09/12/mass-deaths-migratory-birds-new-mexico-environment/5780282002/

Scott Severs
Longmont 

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[cobirds] Red-headed Woodpecker at Littleton, Arapahoe Co

[David Suddjian]

A hatch-year Red-headed Woodpecker flew south over St Mary Catholic Church 
ALONG S Prince St  about 20 min ago. The species is exceptional at Littleton.

David Suddjian
Littleton CO

Sent from my iPhone

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[cobirds] Little gull present off handicapped fishing pier Sunday AM 7:40

[Kevin Ash]

3 of us currently on it.

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